After the Earth Quakes

Elastic Rebound on an Urban Planet

Susan Elizabeth Hough and Roger G. Bilham

Earthquakes rank among the most terrifying natural disasters faced by mankind. Out of a clear blue sky-or worse, a jet black one-comes shaking strong enough to hurl furniture across the room, human bodies out of bed, and entire houses off of their foundations. When the dust settles, the immediate aftermath of an earthquake in an urbanized society can be profound. Phone and water supplies can be disrupted for days, fires erupt, and even a small number of overpass collapses can snarl traffic for months. However, when one examines the collective responses of developed societies to major earthquake disasters in recent historic times, a somewhat surprising theme emerges: not only determination, but resilience; not only resilience, but acceptance; not only
acceptance, but astonishingly, humor. Elastic rebound is one of the most basic tenets of modern earthquake science, the term that scientists use to describe the build-up and release of energy along faults. It is also the best metaphor for societal responses to major earthquakes in recent historic times. After The Earth Quakes focuses on this theme, using a number of pivotal and intriguing historic earthquakes as illustration. The book concludes with a consideration of projected future losses on an increasingly urbanized planet, including the near-certainty that a future earthquake will someday claim over a million lives. This grim prediction impels us to take steps to mitigate earthquake risk, the innately human capacity for rebound notwithstanding.

After the Earth Quakes

Elastic Rebound on an Urban Planet

Susan Elizabeth Hough and Roger G. Bilham

Description

Earthquakes rank among the most terrifying natural disasters faced by mankind. Out of a clear blue sky-or worse, a jet black one-comes shaking strong enough to hurl furniture across the room, human bodies out of bed, and entire houses off of their foundations. When the dust settles, the immediate aftermath of an earthquake in an urbanized society can be profound. Phone and water supplies can be disrupted for days, fires erupt, and even a small number of overpass collapses can snarl traffic for months. However, when one examines the collective responses of developed societies to major earthquake disasters in recent historic times, a somewhat surprising theme emerges: not only determination, but resilience; not only resilience, but acceptance; not only acceptance,
but astonishingly, humor. Elastic rebound is one of the most basic tenets of modern earthquake science, the term that scientists use to describe the build-up and release of energy along faults. It is also the best metaphor for societal responses to major earthquakes in recent historic times. After The Earth Quakes focuses on this theme, using a number of pivotal and intriguing historic earthquakes as illustration. The book concludes with a consideration of projected future losses on an increasingly urbanized planet, including the near-certainty that a future earthquake will someday claim over a million lives. This grim prediction impels us to take steps to mitigate earthquake risk, the innately human capacity for rebound notwithstanding.

After the Earth Quakes

Elastic Rebound on an Urban Planet

Susan Elizabeth Hough and Roger G. Bilham

Table of Contents

1. Impacts and Reverberations2. Earthquakes and Ancient Cities: Armegeddon-Not the End of the World3. The Lisbon Earthquake and the Age of Reason4. Tecumeseh's Legacy: The Enduring Enigma of the New Madrid Earthquakes5. 19th Century Tremblors: A Science is Born6. The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake7. Finding Fault in California8. The 1923 Kanto Earthquake: Surviving Doomsday9. Hazards of the Caribbean10. Tsunamis11. City of Angels or Edge City12. Demonic Demographics13. The Age of Construction

After the Earth Quakes

Elastic Rebound on an Urban Planet

Susan Elizabeth Hough and Roger G. Bilham

Reviews and Awards

"After the Earth Quakes is definitely a worthy book to read. Since the authors manage to convey their message, as well as some basic seismological concepts, without a single equation, it is accessible to the general public, however it will be enjoyed most by seismologists and engineers because of its historic and geodynamics contents. This book should be read by all students of seismology so that they know the genesis of their science, and should be required reading for all functionaries in a wide range of policy making positions."--Pure and Applied Geophysics